Yesterday afternoon afforded me a unusual midweek luxury — the time and energy to tinker with a new dinner recipe.

It was a rare respite due mostly to the school year winding down. Parker’s teacher has declared… No more homework!

So after a lengthy bout of building Lego castles with intricate trap doors, I decided to try something new. I’ve been smitten with the new cookbook from Bon Appetit magazine, “The Grilling Book.”

It is easily their best book to date. Beautiful photos, appealing recipes, jammed with easy-to-digest info. The other day we tried the adobo-marinated hanger steaks (the leftovers of which made Parker’s lunch). Terrific.

Last night I opted for the chicken yakitori — ground chicken seasoned with miso, scallions and a soy-based glaze, then grilled.

Of course, I had to tinker. I didn’t have any scallions, but I have bushels of chive blossoms out in the yard. If you’ve never had chive blossoms, they’re great. Peppery, oniony and fresh. Tonight I’m going to try some battered and fried similar to the way Italians prepare squash blossoms.

I picked a whole mess of the blossoms and dumped them in the processor with a few boneless, skinless chicken breasts and some red miso paste, then pulsed until everything was ground and mixed.

The rest of the recipe I followed pretty closely and the results were terrific. Parker devoured three and actually counted how many were left to make sure he’d have some for lunch today.

And so that’s where today’s lunch begins — leftover chicken yakitori.

Tuesday’s strawberry-rhubarb yogurt parfait was a huge — and funny — hit. After school that day, I asked whether he’d enjoyed the parfait, which was made with a rhubarb compote I’d cooked from stalks growing in our yard.

“Yes! It was really good!”

“Glad you liked the rhubarb.”

“That was RHUBARB?! Are you trying to kill me?”

He seems to be under the impression that rhubarb is poisonous. Can’t imagine which of his moronic 8-year-old buddies convinced him of this. Regardless, I’ve decided to tempt death again and give him another parfait.

Finally, we have this week’s lunch gear giveaway — two insulated lunch bags, one from Lands’ End and another from Yak Pak. As usual, just leave a comment on today’s post and Parker will pick a winner in the morning.

Assuming, of course, he survives his rhubarb parfait.

Read the original on: Lunch Box Blues